He gave freshman Nik Stauskas a glimpse at the nagging fear rolling through his mind in the second half, the memory of his 2005 West Virginia team losing a 20-point lead against Louisville in the Elite Eight. That game replayed over and over in Beilein’s head, causing more nerves and anxious feelings than Sunday’s 79-59 win against Florida probably warranted. Stauskas laughed the laugh of a carefree victor after Beilein told the story, saying, “C’mon, Coach, you know we’ve got you,” as he ran into the locker room.

A few moments before that, Beilein let slip an even more surprising secret—he still has a decent vertical leap. With arms raised in triumph and shouting “Go Blue!” every few seconds, he was slapping hands with Michigan fans as he walked off the floor. At the entrance to the tunnel, one Wolverines fan wearing a bright maize T-shirt leaned over the railing and stretched out his hand as far as it would reach.

Beilein, the 60-year-old offensive genius who started his coaching career at Erie Community College in 1978, made an inspired leap and somehow slapped the hand of the clearly shocked fan, which was a good nine feet above the ground. Freshman Glenn Robinson III, who is averaging 13.5 points per game in the NCAA Tournament, didn’t see the leap, but hearing about it put at least one thing into perspective.

“No wonder he’s always trying to tell me how to jump,” he said with a laugh.

A little adrenaline works wonders, apparently.

“Coach Beilein always tells us a couple basketball stories from back in his days playing basketball,” fifth-year senior Corey Person said. “He always tells us those, but he never told us about jumping. That might have just been something for the moment, though, caught him on a real good day.”

On this momentous day in Beilein’s career, he probably could have dunked a basketball with a little bit of a running start. He’s won—big—everywhere he’s been, from Erie CC to Division III Nazareth College to D-II LeMoyne to Canisius to Richmond to West Virginia to Michigan. He’s one of nine college coaches to take four different programs to the NCAA Tournament, but his 2005 West Virginia team was as close as he had gotten to the Final Four.

This is his sixth year at Michigan; three of his first five teams reached the NCAA Tournament, and the other two finished under .500. Person, a scout-team hero and the team’s emotional leader, knows what Beilein has endured at Michigan better than anyone.

“I’m just proud of him,” Person said. “So many people over the years have doubted his system and doubted what he does. I feel this solidifies him as a great coach, to get his team to the Final Four … I think he’s done a great job of adapting to personnel and adapting to different people on the team. I think that’s the mark of a great coach.”

That great coach became a drenched coach shortly after the game, and no amount of leaping ability would have been able to stop that. Person, senior Blake McLimans and freshman Mitch McGary were waiting for Beilein to finish his final locker room remarks before heading off to his postgame interviews, and when they gave the signal, the rest of the Wolverines stepped back and those three dumped a cooler of red Powerade all over their unaware coach.

That’s why Beilein sat at the interview table wearing a Michigan jacket instead of his dress shirt. “This is going to have to do for right now,” he joked.

Beilein has now coached 1,074 games—and won 672—in his coaching career. Game 1,075, in Atlanta against Syracuse in the Final Four, will be a wonderful new experience for one of college basketball’s best coaches.

“He definitely deserves it because of the type of coach he is,” said star point guard Trey Burke, while ironically standing in the remnants of the Powerade drenching that hadn’t been soaked up by the towels on the floor. “He does things the right way, not only on the court but off the court. He always preaches our core values, and he’s definitely preparing us. He loves his job, and for us to be able to get him to the Final Four for the first time, it means the world.”